The Hole In Their Heart's
by Crimson Dracul
Summary: Follow the tragedies, love, suffering, joy and pain that each arrancar lived through before their untimely demise. And what exactly made them the cruel hollows that form Aizen's elite soldiers? Rating will be changed to M in later chapters.
1. Emptiness I

**Authors note: Hi everyone, first of all I just wanna say thank you for taking the time to at least read this much and that I hope that you enjoy this fanfic! I have had this plot in my head for a while and I am planning on writing about each of the espada and maybe some other fraccion or arrancar if it all goes well**

**I have no particular order in which I am going to write about each character so I am open to requests on who to write about next in later chapters. Reviews will also be appreciated as well as requests! But anyway this chapter is going to be short as it's kind of an introduction to the series and I will be updating tomorrow with the next chapter.**

**I do not own Bleach or any of it's characters, It is created and owned to Tite Kubo.**

Genius. Weirdo. Mature. Emo. Talented. Freak. Intelligent. Creep.

They were all just words, sounds created by living beings around him, polluting the air their presence. Sure they were directed at him, meant to create a reaction, to pry a response from him but all that was ever received at best was a look of acknowledgement.

Sometimes it was nothing but a brief moment of obscure eye contact, usually this was the reply when someone bothered to try reach out and make casual conversation with the so-called 'silent know it all'. If they were lucky they might actually see him blink before he returned his attention to staring dead ahead. Praise from a teacher lead to a slight nod of understanding, but not once did his lips upturn into a smile. And as for all the taunts, snickers, slander and attempts to anger him... They always ended in failure. He did not even bother to look in their direction, never breaking his dead stare.

After his first year of high school, most the other students gave up on trying to communicate with him. They grew to ignore him just as he did to them. Sure many people had speculated the reason he behaved like this but it always lead to a dead end.

Was he deaf? Nope. Sick? Nope. Traumatised? No shrink has been able to prove that. Family problems? They seemed just as boring as him. Been bullied? Never reacted once to others comments. Stupid? Far from it. He was the top student every year.

The only thing that kept him from blending into the walls around him was the unmistakable deep, emerald green eyes. If you stared into them, you would be lost in the emptiness that possessed the deep shade of green that coloured his iris. But all they knew for sure was his name, Ulquiorra Cifer.


	2. Emptiness II

Everyday he would be at school, he had a perfect attendance rate and was the best in all his classes. Science, Math, Languages, he aced them all, it was a rare day when he didn't score 100% on his tests and not once was he late to arrive or hand in work. There was this almost unspoken rule that he would occupy the seat in the back left corner of the room and we always sat alone. He has never shown any interest in any other student, not once had he sat with another student. Some girls were stupid enough (usually those who were new to the school) to occasionally try to flirt with him but he happened to be the only guy in school to have no interest in getting into someone's pants.

Ulquiorra had never shown any signs of change in seventeen years. Born in a small town a few hours From any major city and moved to Tokyo with is family at the age of thirteen. He was the only child of Yumi and Ryugamine Cifer, whom their son took after in many ways. They were high achieving students who graduated from Tokyo University and went on to become successful lawyers. Despite the uncommon family name, they seemed to be the stereotypical middle class family.

Yumi was strict and a well known stoic hard ass who took no risks when it came to any matter regarding her career and family. She had straight black hair that ran down to her shoulder blades, with pale skin from spending most of her time indoors. In her youth she had been known for her doll like appearance and natural silver eyes and even in her early forties had no need for makeup to hide ageing. She was very small in stature but this was amended by her upright posture and wearing heels that would be impossible to walk in without hours of practice. One thing Ulquiorra definitely learned from her was the masterful way she never broke her cold facade in the face of any situation. In fact his personality mirrored his mothers almost to the final detail... except for Yumi's assertive, persist attitude that came with her career.

Ryugamine shared his most prominent feature with his son, deep emerald green eyes. Ulquiorra otherwise did not resemble his father at all, Ryugamine had brunette hair that was kept short and neat and a gentle face that gave him an approachable appearance, contrasting with his wife and son who gave the impression of 'don't look at me. Don't talk to me. Don't touch me.' To anyone that crossed their path. Though the overall attitude of his personality was optimistic and charming, his nature at work turned to professional and confident as Yumi.

Through all their differences and similarities Yumi and Ryugamine seemed to be a very pleasant couple who never fought or quarrelled in their marriage of twenty one years. They had an unspoken bond that allowed them to understand each other through their behaviour, aided by Ryugamine's almost supernatural ability of being the only one that could see beyond Yumi's cold nature and seeing the true feelings hidden behind her mask. And the one emotion that he feared was her concern for Ulquiorra. But he did not confront her about it, continued to just simply assume it was motherly affection and care for their only child.

Since he was young Ulquiorra had respected his parents and their way of living things safely. He had never lied to them or disobeyed them and any other adult who he saw as intelligent and successful, but anyone who didn't have qualities similar to his own or his family Ulquiorra avoided and ignored. It wasn't just at high school that his behaviour caused him to avoid actions that risked leading to overly complicated consequences or required to emotions such as sadness anger, and especially love. Love did not mean anything, the comfort of another persons affections seemed a simple waste of energy in the eyes of Ulquiorra.

His life for seventeen years had revolved around getting up in the morning, going to school, going home, eating, studying and sleeping. Occasionally he would read if a hint of boredom managed to cross his path and the only time he would seek out other people was after school when his parents arrived home. Ulquiorra would listen to them chat about work and discuss their current case, they only addressed him directly when they asked about school and his studies. Yumi always asked this and expected the same answer everytime of Ulquiorra high achieving in all his subjects, Ulquiorra would never smile or be thankful for his praise but he did feel comfort in the fact that his parents were happy about his success as much as their own.

Every second of his life had been in a repetitive pattern and no one expected any less of this from Ulquiorra. His parents, teachers, family, neighbours and fellow students knew he was going to go to graduate as Dux of the school and get accepted into Tokyo University, probably study medicine or law and go on to become a success. Though many despised him for his intelligence and attitude, they knew it wasn't going to stop him from his dead set path that had been laid out before , every second had been repetitive.

That was the case until July seventeenth. After a long, boring school assembly where the principal talked of the upcoming exams and gave the usual inspirational talk and encouraged the students 'to do their best' and to 'study hard!', Ulquiorra went back to his locker to get his books for chemistry. _'Why bother with encouraging the weak and stupid. They are destined to failure either way so why get their hopes up?' _Ulquiorra thought as he went through the speech given in assembly. He knew that there was going to be very few that scored high enough to get into the top universities which included himself and handful of other academics, whom Ulquiorra had never bothered to learn the names of. Just as he shut his locker, Ulquiorra sensed someone was watching him. '_Odd_.' But no matter, he continued to head to class.

He walked through the hallway towards the science labs and as a part of his usual routine ignored the remarks of his classmates, today one bothered to attempt to piss him off by knocking one of the textbooks out of Ulquiorra's arms. But being the surprisingly focused and robotic being he was, Ulquiorra caught it before it could fall further than his arms length to the dismay of the cocky classmate.

He arrived in class with twenty seconds to spare before the teacher would walk through the door and used this time to take his place in his obligatory seat at the back and stare at the walls in his spare moment before class began officially. One minute late Ms. Kamakura walked into class, looking a little more flustered than usual. "Sorry for the delay, I had some important business to take care of before I could come her today..." Ms. Kamakura bantered on for a few minutes with apologies for being late and reminders about work to be handed in before exams, honestly Ulquiorra couldn't care less and all her words in one ear and out the other. It wasn't until she paused and headed toward the door that she caught his attention.

Ms. Kamakura opened the door and two unknown students entered the room. One walked faster than the other and stood in the centre of the room as if she owned it, while the other walked calmly and took her place next to the first girl. At one glance Ulquiorra immediately noticed the striking resemblance they shared, a classic example of identical twins.

The matching navy blue skirts, pale white dress shirts, white socks, beige jumpers and the school blazer certainly enforced the identical features that they shared. They both had lightly tanned skin and hazel eyes that gave them a certain warm appearance, as if they had spent their summer days running around a hot sun. The only contrast between them was their hair, the one who walked in with pride had dark hair that was somewhere between auburn and brunette; while the calm one hair was a serene shade of lavender. Each had a short side fringe and wore their hair up but the lengths were different as the lavender strands trailed past her hips in a dead straight high pony tail and the red/brunette was only shoulder length.

"...Unfortunately due to issues with moving, they were not introduced at the assembly today." Ulquiorra tuned back into Ms. Kamakura's conversation just as she finished her address. The lavender hair girl cleared her throat and began to speak. "My name is Shizuka Hattori." Her sister then chimes in, "And I'm Chiyo Hattori!"

"It's nice to meet you all." They spoke In unison, their voices harmonising naturally as if they had planned their introduction. Ulquiorra couldn't help but find the two sisters voices pleasant, which was a first for him to ever find the sound of another person speaking... engaging and enticing.

"They will be your classmates from now on. they just moved here from Okinawa so please be nice and help them out if th..." As soon as his teachers voice replaced the sound of the Hattori sisters he once again returned to his distant state. '_Does this woman ever plan on completing her work as an educator_?' As if on cue, she asked the girls to take a seat and began going over yesterday's notes for their next test. The class grew quiet and all turned their heads down in concentration, but as Ulquiorra went to his notes he couldn't help but notice the lavender hair in directly in front of him.

Moments later the hair moved from his vision and was replaced with the face of the new girl, Shizuka. "Sorry to bother you, but, can I please see some of your notes? I don't have any of my books yet?" She spoke softly in order to draw no attention form the rest of the class. Ulquiorra stared at her with his up changing face, before he could act, another voice chimed in "oh, me too please!" The other one, Chiyo joined in to coax notes out of the silent boy. As they stared patiently back at him waiting for some sort of reply Ulquiorra gained a sense of déjà vu from their looks, The piercing gaze felt oddly familiar. Whatever it was he honestly couldn't quite pick it out, plus he didn't want to have to interact any further so instead of communicating he quickly handed them the notes in order to return to work. As he slowly moved his gaze to the board, in the corner of his eyes he saw the sisters smiled at him softly and mouthed 'thank you' before turning around and beginning to copy his work.

For the first time in all his years at school Ulquiorra found himself unfocused, his mind was drawn to the conclusion and realisation that the eyes that observed him briefly at the lockers had been the gaze of two pairs of hazel eyes. For At approximately 2:14pm his life had changed in the slightest, but he himself was uncertain on whether it was for better or for worse.

**Authors notes: **

**-All writing in italics are Ulquiorra's thoughts. Sorry if I can be unspecific at times on whether the writing is in third or first person, it's a bad habit of mine when I write :/ **

**-Ulquiorra's parents and the Hattori twins are OC's that I came up with (I do not reuse OC characters in any of my works) for this story and there will be many more OC's in later chapters. And I promise Shizuka and Chiyo will get more character development (I kept it brief in this chapter since I wanted to focus on Ulquiorra.) **

**-In the next few chapters the story is going to get deeper and heavier in themes so I'm just going to warn you about that now. There's a reason this is rated M. **

**I am planning on updating as often as I can, my aim is to at the very least update once a month! At this point there is going to be another three chapters entitled Emptiness before I move onto The next story but depending on where this leads to there is a chance of going up to six or seven chapters. Anyway thank you so much for reading this and don't be afraid to review! **


	3. Emptiness III

Ulquiorra spent the evening studying for his final exams. Though the exams were almost three months away, his parents strongly encouraged to begin revision as soon as he received the dates. He began by going through this years physics notes, his deep emerald eyes moved over the papers. Each word was written in precise, neat handwriting that Ulquiorra had perfected down to the final stroke. He carefully analysed the equations and calculations but at a speed that resembled a quick glance rather then a thoughtful analysis.

Next was Japanese. Unlike with sciences, the meaning of this subject remained pointless to the genius. Why was expression in the form of language and calligraphy deemed important? Enough so to dictate someone's future by failing or passing, depending on the quality of thin papers inscribed with ink, forming opinions on topics that no one would even ponder in reality? While biology, physics and chemistry are the elements that have created the base of the universe are merely considered an elective in the education system?

Soon he grew bored with analysing articles written by biased journalists. Ulquiorra moved from his desk to retrieve his other notes, left untouched in his school bag since returning from school.

Though the Cifer residence is considered by many to be large in scale, Ulquiorra's room was a standard, plain bedroom. The walls are a hygienic white and the floor covered soft, mauve carpet made the small room comfortable.

The room was sparse of furniture. The left corner of the room was occupied by a double bed, the frame was a clean metal that shone like silver, and draped neatly over the bed lay matching moss green blanket and pillows. Not a single crease existed as the bed had been made to the standards of an OCD maid. Adjacent was a small bedside table also made of a similar smooth metal as the bed frame. The tabletop lay bare, excluding the black lamp and a small pile of books.

There was a double-door cupboard built into the wall opposite the bed that would blend into the wall if it weren't for the slick, black doorknobs contrasting against the white of the door. Next to the door stood a humongous bookshelf that reached the ceiling and entrapped the wall behind it like a screen. Each book was placed in line with each other, the collection ranged form school textbooks, classic literature, fantasy novels, law textbooks and random assortments of teen fiction.

And, the final piece of furniture was the large, expensive, office style desk and chair. The desk was organised in a simple fashion of papers and homework kept stacked on the left, stationary designated to the far right corner and a coffee mugged placed on a coaster. His laptop was out of sight in the desks large draw underneath the writing surface. His mother insisted it was a 'distraction' but in all honesty, he didn't find any amusement in it. This is where Ulquiorra spent most of his time in the evening, studying, reading or simply staring out the window with nothing but the company of his own thoughts.

As he rummaged through his bag he found two books from earlier today: biology and chemistry. Ulquiorra took one look at the thin biology book filled with definitions, then placed it back into the shelf where it belong and took out a chemistry textbook. He made his way back to his desk with the book, chemistry used to be a challenge to him but has become a preferred class compared to law and Japanese. As he sat back in the chair he opened the notes to scanned over them briefly and begin his work.

_'Odd'_. As Ulquiorra opened to the recent page, a memory seemed to have somehow attached itself to the paper. The image of the new students flashed before his eyes, remembering their doppelgänger, quizzical expression as they waited for his response. He shook off the thought and began studying. But as hard as he tried, Ulquiorra soon found himself losing concentration and beginning to focus on the thought of the two girls. There was something about them that... Well, he didn't understand...

_'The feeling of being watched today. Helping them. The chemistry notes.' _ As he thought of the events of the day and the presence of the twins, Ulquiorra came to an odd conclusion. They somehow all had the same essence- no, the same feeling connected to each other. Frustration kicked in as his analysis couldn't go any further.. He didn't know what this feeling was.

The genius was confused about something seen as simple to so many: emotion.

"Nonsense", Ulquiorra stated to know one in particular as he shut the textbook. In an attempt to forget the internal confusion, he comforted himself by blaming sleep deprivation, turned off the light and made his way to bed. The moonlight streamed through the window and became the only source of weak, faded light. Ulquiorra did not bother to draw the curtains, Pale moonlight had always been a small comfort to him.

Once under the soft covers he shut his shimmering emerald eyes. _'Nothing will change,' _the words chanted in his mind. '_They will simply become two more faceless students in the corridors. Forget them.'_

That evening, cool breeze filled the suburban streets of Adachi. The air swept through the open apartment window and to the girl relaxing in the moonlight. The sensation of the breeze caressing her smooth skin put Shizuka at ease. The pale haired girl stared in an exhausted daze at the night sky. Moving box after box from the loading truck, then up the numerous flights of stairs to the fourth floor had weakened her. She felt as if she couldn't even lift a pen. _'Oh crap, I still have homework to do,'_ Shizuka sighed at the thought of anything but going to sleep.

"Hey, sis are you okay?" Chiyo's call pulled the girl out of her daze and back to reality.

"Yeah I just needed a break." Shizuka moved her gaze towards the human reflection that was her sister. Chiyo had returned from the loading truck with two boxes stacked in her arms, her hair now in a messy ponytail and bags beginning to form under her eyes.

"Well these were the last few so there's no need to be on a break anymore." Chiyo giggled in delight. "Sorry, I should have been more of a help." Shizuka replied with a guilty tone.

"Forget about it, I didn't expect any more from you anyway." The last few words turned into a grumble as the temperamental teen headed towards the bathroom.

Once the tension had been removed from the room, Shizuka returned her attention to the night. The time was nearing midnight, the loading truck had driven away and the streets became silent. There was something about the moon that calmed her, the rays of light made the dim room glow a pale blue and her skin a light, creamier tone. Though she was in completely new surroundings in one of the worlds largest cities, the moon never changes and is still lighting the evening sky.

The trials of the day had sapped all of her energy. Her hazel eyes struggled to remain open as the eyelids grew heavier with fatigue, her legs had given up on standing so the threw herself on to the comfy bed. Though her body was in a borderline comatose state her mind remained awake and deep in thought, her mind raced with the excitement of attending a new school. The idea of decorating the modern apartment to suit their own taste and exploring the endless streets of Tokyo.

Then through all the excitement of the new surroundings and the possibilities in her future, the negatives set in. The daunting notion of having to leave her old friends behind and make new ones. Shizuka bit her lip, the idea of social interaction always made her nervous, that was something she was never great with introductions and was timid by nature. '_Thank god for Chiyo, I would be so lost without her'_, Chiyo had always been their for her in times of need, sure they argue occasionally but there was no doubt in Shizuka's love for her sister.

As if on cue the door opened, and Chiyo walked into the room. Shizuka looked up from her place on the bed, her sister had plaited her shoulder length hair and changed into green silk pyjamas.

She must have dozed off briefly, or maybe Chiyo had unpacked without her noticing. The walls were still bare but the bedside table had been placed next to Chiyo's bed with a blue lamp and digital alarm clock, the desk had been assembled and a cheap office chair tucked in. Most of the boxes also had been emptied and lay next to the dresser, which must be filled with the sisters clothes. All the lights were off now and the window shut.

"So are you sleeping in your uniform or are you going to change?" Chiyo eyed her sisters lazy form. The school skirt was now slightly creased and her socks fallen down, she had taken off her blazer a while ago but by no means was she dressed for bed. Hell, she hadn't even bothered to remove her shoes.

"Soon," the reply sounded more like a yawn than an answer.

The semi-brunette growled lightly at her twins attitude. Since they got home from school Shizuka had been in a dreamy daze that made her practically useless during the move, dropping things, zoning out and placing boxes in the wrong room, tripping over and yawning constantly! All Chiyo wished for was the girl to be a little less self centered and less carefree.

"What's been with you today?" The lavender hair girl was brought out of her daze at the whiny tone of Chiyo's voice. She once again bit her lip. She knew how to answer the question but didn't really want to.

"Well?!" No escaping this. She lifted her whole body off the bed and faced Chiyo, her soft lavender hair slid down her back and shoulders gracefully as she came to a sitting position. "I am... I am just excited to be able to have a new beginning." Shizuka smiled sweetly at her sister, hoping that her lie would not shine through her facade.

Chiyo sighed in an exhausted manner, then walked towards the bed on the opposite wall. "That's a relief, I thought you were going to beg to go home or give up already." Chiyo giggled at her own remark and was soon joined by Shizuka in the chorus of laughter.

Shizuka kicked off her skirt and shoes, unbuttoned her dress shirt and hopped into bed in nothing but her underwear, she just wanted to sleep now. Chiyo spoke a quiet 'goodnight' from the comfort of her own bed, as she waited for sleep.

'_Thank god!_' Shizuka mentally sighed as she heard her sister begin to sleep. She hated lying to Chiyo, but then again, she hated awkward conversations just as much. It wasn't the excitement that had made act in a passive daze today.. well maybe that was a part of the reason but it was certainly not the main cause of her actions. As she drifted between sleep and the memories of her first day, the same moment kept coming to mind, and a flash of emerald green emphasising it.

_'Theres just something about that guy. He seemed bored, or was he lonely? There's Something about his eyes. They seem so defined and strong when I first glanced at him... But when I actually stared into the deep pools of shimmering green, all I saw was a void. An empty vessel longing for life... I wonder just who is he.. Maybe he is just quiet like me..'_

Shizuka could no longer fight it, sleep was rapidly overtooktaking her small body. Her thoughts turning into a dreamless slumber. _'Maybe... He needs someone to understand him... like me..' _

**Authors notes**

**- Well, my plans of updating regularly were ruined by my laptop. I had written half of this chapter nearly two months ago now but the charger died and I had to save up to get a new one. Originally this chapter was going to be a little longer but I just wanted to finally post this chapter ASAP so I will add the rest in the next chapter. Now that everything is back in order I will be writing more often! **

**- ****_Italics: the characters thoughts_**

**- Sorry if this chapter wasn't very clear, I may write the next chapter in first person POV instead of third and see how it goes. I also haven't decided on which espada I will write about after Ulquiorra so if you have a preference send me a message or leave the request in a review. **

**- I hate to ask but please write reviews! it will help me update consistently and improve my writing, I would love to get suggestions for future chapters.**

**Thanks for reading, it means a lot to me if you made it past the first chapter :) **


	4. Emptiness IV

The Hattori twins began to settle into their new school life. As if to make their identity as twins cliche, as Chiyo claimed when given her timetable; Shizuka and Chiyo had been placed in the same classes. Japanese, Algebra, art and chemistry. The only time when they separated was when Chiyo had PE and Shizuka psychology.

As Summer went by, they had to conformed to their new environment. Shizuka no longer got lost every time she tried to find the girls bathroom, while Chiyo finally mastered the skill of managing to bring all her books to class without forgetting a dictionary or a calculator. But despite all this, Shizuka felt like an outsider. Unlike her doppelgänger, she had always lacked a bubbly, open personality that made socialising easy.

Shizuka used to feel forgotten in Okinawa, and it took her several years to finally gain a minuscule sense of belonging. Shortly after her fourth birthday, the whole family decided to go to the beach. It was a wonderful summer day. the ocean breeze combating the humidity to create a perfect climate and the sky a picture perfect blue. It was certainly a lovely day at first, soon the sky faded to a dismal grey and the waves grew violent, disrupting the harmony of the tropical beach. While hurrying to leave Shizuka's parents lost sight of her for a second, they didn't notice the absence of their little girl until Chiyo's snivelling grew to hysteria. In a panic, the twins father rushed towards the stormy beach despite the begging of his wife who went about calling a search party. After several hours of searching, Shizuka's father found his little baby girl curled up crying under a broken tree, tears blending with her droplets of rain streaming down her face. Wasting no time they rushed to the nearest hospital hoping no harm had to come to her, only to discover their paranoia was true, Shizuka had contracted hyperthermia.

If it weren't for Chiyo's outburst alerting her parents, and their fathers desperate acts, Shizuka may not have survived the cold and deadly conditions of the storm. For the next few months, Shizuka was sickly and constantly tired, her naturally olive skin became a sickly beige and feared going outside on even slightly cold days. She spent most of her childhood days at home, as time went by Shizuka slowly gained confidence again but continued to become increasingly attached to Chiyo. After the incident at the beach, the twins hated being separated. Shizuka relied upon Chiyo's protection, while her brunette twin felt happiness in her sisters adoration for her, fuelling pride that led her to become a self confident extrovert.

Now, Shizuka's was aware of this recently growing gap in her beloved sisters tight-nit relationship. This made the shy teen feel like the small fear filled girl once again, surrounded by the crashing of waves, the icy clawing of rain and the wind howling like a vengeful banshee warning mortals of encroaching death. Only the sounds were now generated by students as they rushed through the halls, leaving her behind.

As the timid school girl made her way from the lockers to the distant psychology classroom, the lack of Chiyo's prescence hit her hard in the form of loneliness. Would she once again shrink into a faded lavender blotch attempting to hide as a wallflower?

_No, she thought. Sure no one talks to me in psychology, but I can survive... I think._

The thoughts whirling in Shizuka's head continued, echoing in her mind like her gentle footsteps in the now empty corridor. She snapped out of her daze long enough to notice her inner ramblings had slowed her pace, making her rather late for class. In a panicked dash she flew through the corridor and down the stairs, her eyes bulging In anxiety and her hair bellowing dramatically from the mad running. Clumsily she passed through the doorway with barely a second to spare, huffing with exhaustion.

_ I made it! She_ Mentally sighed in time to her physical ragged breathing.

"You're late."

The harsh words snapped the dishevelled looking girl out of her exhaustion. The last thing needed to destroy any sense of belonging gained recently, was a scene. Luck was never something possessed by the girl, and nothing feels as demoralising as the sight of twenty disinterested students faces morphing into giddy smirks of amusement at your own expense. There was nowhere to hide!

"I-I'm terribly sorry for my... Uh.." Shizuka mumbled, failing to create a coherent sentence. Quickly she opted for bowing in apology and scurried out of the teachers way, the eyes still didn't leave her sight.

Her skirt was hiked slightly at the front causing certain "perverse" eyes to I wander elsewhere. Shizuka's skin portrayed her embarrassment to onlookers, it longer blended with the dark toned walls, now it radiated shades of red. Trying to Recollecting herself, Shizuka made her way to the back of the classroom in hope of finding a place away from the eyes that pierced her confidence. Without looking she headed towards the far right corner of the room, the piercing feeling seemed completely dead in that direction.

_Great job at getting noticed for once! But I doubt this will improve ANY chance of friends._ It seemed as the day continued her thoughts grew in pessimism.

She weakly placed the led-like textbooks on the empty surface, and sat in the worn out chair that accompanied the desk. Growing lethargic by the second, her small frame slouched slowly onto the desk, followed by lavender hair blanketing the other half of the desks surface.

Nearing sleep, a slight bump alerted the girl of another presence next to her. A cold. Rigid, presence. For the second time today, Shizuka was once again facing disinterested eyes.

"Move." The Eerily quiet word increased the tension omitted from the owner of the emerald orbs.

Taken back by his blunt language, it took Shizuka a while to realise that not only did she seemingly ignore the silent teen sitting next to her, but she was unknowingly falling asleep on his arm! In a delayed reaction she squeaked in embarrassment and sharply jolted upright in her chair, cheeks blushing rose red. Suprisingly no one saw, they were probably too drained by the teachers dull presentation on identifying sociopaths and psychopaths.

"Sorry!"

...

No response, just a slow head turn in the opposite direction.

"I'll get out of your way.." Awkwardly, the girl set about collecting her books in her arms.

"Don't bother moving... Just don't lean on me."

The quiet yet articulate words stopped the blushing girl dead in her tracks. Despite the cold tone carried in his voice, Shizuka couldn't help but find it comforting, of not.. Accepting...

"O-Kay... thank you."

Silence ensued again, although Shizuka couldn't help but recall the first time she saw him. Pale as a ghost, plastered with a stoic expression hiding all emotions and thoughts. Shizuka knew he was considered odd and robotic by her fellow peers, yet despite that she felt increasingly curious about the silent genius. Sick of pondering on her thoughts, Shizuka took a risk.

_What's the worst that could happen..? _

"Excuse me?"

...

"I never caught your name.."

...

The silence disheartened her, enforced by his lack of care towards her attempts at making conversation. She sighed in defeat.

_Why even bothe- _

"Ulquiorra Cifer."

Her lonely thoughts were brought abruptly to a halt, by the no longer name less Ulquiorra.

Shizuka's clouded eyes shone with surprise, and the rooms cold feeling was lifted for a moment as a slight smile graced her thin lips.

_I guess he is alive after all.. well slightly. _

"Hi, sorry for what happened earlier, I'm having an off day" she smiled in an attempt to seem calm, inside she was bursting with curious as to how far this talk could go.

Ulquiorra refrained from speaking this time, but bothered to nod his head slightly in understanding.

"Would you mind if I sat her again... I.. Uh.." _Wow, this is harder than I thought... Maybe I should speak to more people other than Chiyo more often! _

The bored gaze from the emerald eyes caused Shizuak to panic, her hazel eyes darting to and form the window and Ulquiorra.

_Stop making it awkward and just spit it out already_!

"I don't really feel comfortable near the front... I li-like it back here so... Uh! Only if you don't mind!" The introvert within her fought every word out of her mouth, but eventually she made her proposition.

"Fine." He responded quickly in a monotone manner.

Relief filled her mind as the fear of rejection receded, replaced with a sense of accomplishment. As if nothing had happened Ulquiorra returned his attention to the teachers standard boring presentation, listening studiously and reviewing quickly in his notes the minuscule information he missed during what you could call a 'conversation' with Shizuka.

Their brief talk was over. It may have meant nothing to Ulquiorra, but he failed to realise the impact he made on the timid Shizuka. The silent, cold genius had created a glimmer of confidence and happiness for the shy girl.

**Authors notes **

-This is a really late update I know! I guess I overestimated how much time I would get done over the holidays, and when I got back to school I pretty much stopped writing until last week. I know it's frustrating waiting for updates (I have no patience when it come to my favourite fanfics and manga) but I am trying to fit I time for writing during my final year of high school, so study unfortunately comes first.

- I have to thank the latest chapters of Bleach for my inspiration, I am such a fangirl for Grimmjow so (SPOILERS) I was so overjoyed by his return, plus Nel and Yoruichi being in the storyline more so yay! Also I got the need to write again since I am studying this book in English called Stasiland and I love the style of the authors writing.

- I was a little short on ideas for a while but I am happy to say I have a decent plan outline for the plot from this point on and have started to prepare the next two chapters (I'm jumping between the two but I'll update whichever one is complete first). Sorry for the OC orientated chapter! there won't be many more of these so bare with me I didn't just write it for the sake of it, there will be more Ulquiorra soon. ^_~

-I will continue to use _Italics_ for characters thoughts.

**And finally thank you to Maylavender and Lhisawesome4ever for your reviews! **

Lhisawesome4ever: my first review ever, ^_^ it really boosted my confidence so thank you. I am still pretty new to writing fanfiction but I hope I continue to avoid making any MarySue type OCS.

Maylavender: you have no idea how much of a relief it felt to know someone appreciated my style of writing! I hope you enjoyed with this chapter!

**If you enjoyed please follow, favourite or write a review, and thanks for reading :) **


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